Sasuke's Last Trial
by Dionide
Summary: Sasuke has sacrificed everything...his friends, his home...but something still bothers him. Can Sasuke sacrifice one last..cherished memory before he faces his new teacher, Orochimaru?
1. A New Beginning

"I can't believe I pulled it off..."

Those were the only words that Sasuke Uchiha could say after his intense fight with Naruto Uzumaki.

"That red aura...the fox-like stance...and...how did I do it?"

"Well, maybe Orochimaru will tell me when the time comes."

As Sasuke slowly runs in the outskirts of the Leaf Forest searching for Orochimaru, he notices that the sun is starting to go down. It has been 3 days since Sasuke has defeated Naruto, and the pain has not weakened since then.

"Must I live with this forever!"

Only then, he realized that not only is his pain becoming stronger, but he feels that another force is weakening him as well.

"Where is this pain coming from?"

It was at this moment that he noticed his curse mark was acting up. Deciding on the best strategy, he found an abandoned hut to stay for the night in a burnt field along the path. He noticed that no life was growing, it was a barren land that was once a beautiful place; however, war has passed through these desolate lands.

After setting up camp, he studied his curse mark through a broken mirror found on the floor. The curse mark was growing, and it was forming a reddish-aura around the outline of the pattern.

"This cannot be right, the Sound Four told me that the curse mark in its second form would stabilize in my body, why would it cause me such pain?"

"No, this cannot be the cause of my pain. I must be strong till I find the truth."

* * *

_Come on Naruto, give up, you cannot defeat me_

_Yes I can...and I will defeat you if my name isn't Naruto Uzumaki_

_Alright, you asked for it...Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!_

_Ahhh!!  
_

* * *

"What? Huh? It was only a dream?"

"Then, why do I feel...oww... that pain again?"


	2. A Mysterious Culprit

The next morning, Sasuke woke up only to find that his belongings were stolen along with his food and water.

"Arrggh...well, whatever, these punks better think twice before they mess with me."

Tracking the culprit to a local village, Sasuke disguised himself as a traveling disciple and searched for the culprit's hideout. After multiple tracking jutsus, he found a house on the outskirts of the village.

"Come out now, you cannot hide from me."

A man came out of one of the rooms, stared at Sasuke's cold red eyes and yelled

"Itachi, how dare you return to my domain!"

Sasuke was struck, "How does this man kno--

Boom! Just in a flash, the man punched Sasuke and flew him into the wall, but Sasuke managed to find his footing and unleashed a counterattack,

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"

Soon after, a huge fireball went flying right at the mysterious man, but he managed to dodge it with ease, and ran into the forest.

"You win this time Itachi, but I will get my revenge and finally kill you for what you've done to me!"

Sasuke knew that this man might know where Itachi Uchiha might be, but as soon as he started to run after him, a searing pain came upon him.

"Ahhh!...why does this keep happening? Did the Fireball Jutsu drain my strength?"

Realizing that he might pass out, Sasuke decided to steal any food and water he can find from the mysterious man's house and quickly find shelter.

* * *

_Why do you still fight? I already told you I'm not coming back, so give up now._

_No...you may think of me as stupid Naruto...but you mean more to me than family_

_and I'm not gonna let you go!_

_Fine, have it your way. I'll just kill you here and now to end your misery,_

_Sasuke...I'm just getting started..._

* * *

"Ahh! That dream again...has that blow to the head at the waterfall healed yet?"

"Maybe...this is more than just a blow to the head...rasengan sucks anyway."


	3. Akatsuki Spy

The next morning, Sasuke wakes up, gathers his belongings, and runs out of the village. He was then startled when he sees a very familiar face.

"What is Kakashi doing here?"

Kakashi Hatake, a jounin of the Leaf village, was talking to what seemed to be the village elder right at the fork in the road up ahead.

Carefully, Sasuke sneaks to the tree on his left, and decides to find out what his old teacher was up to.

"...so Itachi's companion left the village last night?

"Yes, that is what our intelligence confirms. Apparently he found our scouts at his hideout and managed to track his way back to our village. How he came through our defenses or left so suddenly is out of our knowledge."

"I see...well I must find him anyway, searching for new leads on the Akatsuki is such a difficult task. Seeing that this is my first lead in weeks, I cannot afford to lose this one too."

"Of course, please help yourself to search our intelligence reports for anything you find useful."

"I will, thank you."

When their conversation ended, Kakashi quickly disappeared in a flash, but the village elder still stayed.

"Heh heh...foolish Leaf ninja...doesn't he know that anyone who fights the Akatsuki never lives, especially when most of the villages are in league with them."

The village elder then transformed into what looked like a big spider-like creature; however, what really surprised Sasuke was that he had the mark of the Akatsuki on his clothing.

"So this man is with Akatsuki, maybe he will give me more information about Itachi and his slave."

Suddenly, he looked right at Sasuke and smiled,

"Don't think I didn't notice your presence, little one."

At that moment, he dashed right at Sasuke, thrusting one of his spider legs right at his chest. Sasuke dodged it and at that moment grabbed the leg, aimed right at it, and yelled,

"Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu!"

Fire blew right out of Sasuke's mouth and into the spider's leg, following up to his body and igniting right at his abdomen.

"Ahhhh!! Curse you, Uchiha!"

Sasuke, seeing no other option, took the unconscious man and ran into the forest, hoping that he would have the answers that he seeks.


	4. Itachi?

Several hours later, the man woke up only to find himself trapped in a binding curse jutsu.

"What do you want from me, little one?"

"I want you to tell me where Itachi is."

"And why should I tell you that? He would only kill both of us for defying him."

"I wouldn't underestimate my power, and you shouldn't overestimate his."

"You fool, even training with that traitor Orochimaru wouldn't change a thing. Itachi rivals even the leader of our organization! What could you possibly do to defeat him?"

"How do you...never mind, what's important is that I know where he is and I will defeat him."

"You will never be able to defeat him, little one."

"Seeing that you haven't told me his location yet, you have two options. Either tell me where he is, or you will die right here."

The spider-man started to laugh, "Do you really think I will betray my masters? I would rather die than give in to your will."

"Then you are no use to me."

In a flash, Sasuke slit his throat, burned his body, and continued on his way...

* * *

_Sasuke, why are you doing this? Orochimaru only wants your sharingan!_

_I know, but as long as I kill my brother I don't care what he wants with me._

_You speak as though you're no longer human..._

_Your right...but I will give up my humanity if it means I obtain infinite power._

_Sasuke...I won't let you give up yourself to Orochimaru, even if I die trying._

_Well, prepare to die._

* * *

"What? That dream again...what has Naruto done to me?"

Sasuke wakes up in an abandoned fortress, about two days away from Orochimaru's meeting point. Carefully meditating and using sealing jutsus on the curse mark like the Sound Four told him to do, he went out in search of food and water when he saw something horrifying.

He saw Itachi a couple feet away, and he just looked at Sasuke and smiled,

"Looks like the rumors were true, you killed my spy last night didn't you?"

Sasuke couldn't move, not only was he surprised that his true enemy appeared at his door-step, but the pain was coming back...and it was killing him.


	5. Pain and Agony

"So, you couldn't just stay in Konoha and leave me alone, could you?"

Itachi just stood there, either waiting for Sasuke to strike, or to wait till the pain slowly killed him instead.

"You're still feeling the pain, aren't you? The pain of losing your life, your friends, and yourself."

Sasuke couldn't do anything, he just stayed on the ground, too much in pain to even give a counter-statement.

"That spy was giving me important information about our runaway traitor, and you killing him just put my search...days behind of schedule,"

"Maybe killing you should calm me down."

Sasuke felt helpless, just as he felt when Itachi killed his parents, just as he felt when Gaara knocked him unconscious at the Chunin Exams,

and...just as he felt when he was too weak to kill Naruto.

At that moment, someone came out of nowhere and knocked Itachi away from Sasuke. It was a familiar face, because he fought him several days ago.

It was the mysterious man who mistook Sasuke for Itachi, and he was back with a vengeance.

"Itachi, today you will finally die by my hand for killing all that I cared about!"

"Fine, I was going to kill you anyway Vuelvo. Why not now of all times?"

Vuelvo and Itachi both struck each other with blinding speed. So far, it looked like both fighters were an even match for each other.

However, Sasuke had his own fight to win...against himself.

Sasuke was half-conscious from the pain, but he finally figured out what the cause of it was.

He still has guilt from fighting Naruto, his one true friend.

_Sasuke, I won't let Orochimaru take you from me, even if I have to break your arms and legs and drag you back myself!_

"No! I won't let you hurt me anymore Naruto! I must kill Itachi...for my clan!"

_Your clan is dead, and you need to live with it!_

"Stop it!"

_Not until we fight again, but this time you won't escape so easily..._


	6. The Last Trial

At that moment, everything changed...and he was back at the waterfall...

with Naruto standing right next to him, and he was angry.

_This is it Sasuke; I will make you come back to your senses, believe it!_

"Believe this!"

Sasuke started running with a kunai in hand, and threw it right at Naruto's head.

Naruto, reacting to it right away, brushed it aside.

_It won't work Sasuke, I know everything you know, after all Kakashi taught both of us!_

"Shut up! Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"

A huge fireball, bigger than Sasuke has ever done before, was flying straight at Naruto, but Naruto merely deflected it right into the water causing a huge fog to appear.

"This is my chance to stop him once and for all!"

Sasuke decided to try his new super-move that he has been working on since he last saw Naruto. He gathered all of his chakra into his hand, and not only did he form his chidori, but it was bigger...and it turned purple.

He succeeded in mastering the art of the Lightning Chidori.

The fog cleared up, and Sasuke saw Naruto forming a rasengan, only this one was bigger and looked as if nine tails were hanging off of it.

Both of them charged right at each other and attacked,

"Lightning Chidori!"

_Nine-Tailed Rasengan!_

An enormous explosion occurred the moment both attacks struck. After the smoke cleared, Sasuke saw that he was heavily injured, but he would live...Naruto wasn't so lucky.

It seemed that he was dying.

_Sasuke...It's not too late...please...come back to Konoha...you may think that joining Orochimaru is the only way...but come back...we can help you..._

"I'm sorry Naruto, but my mind is made up. You are too late."

_Sasuke...I will never give up...even if I die trying...even if Orochimaru wins...I will never give up on you_

"I know you wouldn't Naruto...I know you wouldn't..."


	7. Aftermath

Sasuke broke away from his trance, and felt that his pain has finally gone away.

"But, was that fight real? Did I really kill Naruto?"

"No..now is not the time...I must find Itachi and Vuelvo now."

Sasuke ran into the clearing, and saw Vuelvo and Itachi, but Itachi was knocked out, and Vuelvo was alive.

He won the battle.

Vuelvo was about to land the finishing blow, when Sasuke appeared in between them.

"Vuelvo, you cannot kill him!"

Vuelvo just looked at him and said,

"Get out of my way, Uchiha! Can't you see that I'm about to kill the one who destroyed my life!"

"It doesn't matter! My destiny is to kill Itachi, and if you won't back down I will be forced to kill you."

"Fine, two Uchiha dead might be more satisfying anyway."

Vuelvo started to form his jutsu, but then he ceased...unexpectedly..

"What? How did you—ahhh!!"

Vuelvo suddenly was stabbed repeatedly and a second later, he was dead...now a broken corpse on the ground...

And Itachi won the battle.

"Well, I must thank you Sasuke, for distracting him while I finished him off; because of your generosity I will let you go with a warning."

"Get back here you cur!"

"Hold on Sasuke, you're still too weak after your big battle, remember?"

"How did you--?"

"Your pain...I can no longer sense it. You must have finally severed your link with that fox-brat, didn't you?"

Sasuke was speechless, too startled that Itachi had all the answers while Sasuke was clueless to what happened to him.

"Well, you have your appointment with Orochimaru don't you? I'll let you be off then."


	8. Orochimaru

Days after the fight at the fortress, Sasuke finally reached Orochimaru's meeting point, eager for answers from his new master.

"Finally, everything will make sense."

Sasuke was standing at an old outpost near the land of the sand. He opened the door of the main building and saw Orochimaru, but he seemed...different.

"Lord Orochimaru, what happened?"

"My dear Sasuke, it seems you are too late."

"What do you mean?"

"I had to choose a different body to transfer into, you just simply didn't arrive in time."

"I apologize Lord Orochimaru, so many things came up and I just lost track of time."

"It's alright Sasuke, you made up for it earlier today."

"What?"

"You did what I thought would be impossible for you to do. You managed to sever your ties to all the things that you have known and cared about, including the ties that you thought couldn't be broken."

"Naruto..."

"So because of your success I will brush that issue aside. For the next three years, I will teach you all that you need to know to not only kill Itachi, but to kill that nine-tailed fox kid as well."

"As you wish, Lord Orochimaru."

"Sasuke Uchiha, do you pledge to devote your entire life to the teachings of your master?"

"I do, Lord Orochimaru."

"Then it is official, Sasuke Uchiha. Together you and I will control vast allies, kill all of our enemies, and unlock true power."

"Thank you, Lord Orochimaru."

"You're welcome, my student. Now, go and pack your bags, we have a long journey on our hands."

Orochimaru then disappears and leaves Sasuke all alone.

"Well, I guess I'll be leaving now..."


End file.
